Early Spring Lawn Care Tips the Organic Way

Tip 1: The Native Americans Called It Maize

You can skip the chemical pre-emergent weed killer on your lawn. Do you really want a blanket of chemicals covering your yard for 4 months? These chemicals don't just disappear – they linger and soak into the ground. Instead of these chemicals, opt for an all-natural weed suppressing fertilizer made from Corn Gluten Meal. If you must spread a chemical pre-emergent, make sure that it’s all on the lawn - sweep or blow-off any chemicals from the driveways and sidewalks to help slow or prevent the chemicals from running-off into your groundwater and also to protect innocent passers-by from the chemicals.

Tip 2: Longer Grass Blades Mean Less Crabgrass

Studies have shown that mowing your lawn at 3.5 inches (high) prevents as much crabgrass as any chemical treatment. Therefore, your second mowing of the year should be at your mower's highest setting (usually about 3.5 inches). Trust me on this. If you want to know why, here you go...You're not supposed to remove more than 1/3 of the grass blade in any one mowing. If you do, this stresses the grass and encourages crabgrass to grow. So, if you cut the grass at two inches high, you can let the grass grow 1 inch to 3 inches before you have to mow it again. For example’s sake, if you mow the grass at 4 inches high, you can let the grass grow 2 inches to 6 inches before you have to mow it again. The principle is that the higher you cut your grass, the longer you can let the grass grow between mowings. This saves on fuel costs and air pollution as well - the higher you cut your grass, the less often you need to cut the grass, period!

Tip 3: Spot-fix Your Lawn

Seed any bare spots as soon as you can. Weeds will sprout in any spots that aren't growing grass. You can buy a seed that is blended with mulch like Good Nature's Pro Mix Patch Repair, or just use regular seed and mulch it with some compost. Our Garden Weasel tool makes spot seeding easy - check out this helpful instructional video to learn more.

Tip 4: Snow Mold Needs to Go

Do you have matted-down dead spots in your lawn after the snow melts? Chances are these dead spots are caused by snow mold. Click the following link for some organic tips on how to handle snow mold - www.whygoodnature.com/snowmold - you’ll enjoy the education and your lawn will thank you all summer-long.

Thanks for reading this blog post. Good Nature Lawn Care encourages you to keep on the grass this growing season.